Last week saw the tenth anniversary of Doctor Who‘s triumphant return to Saturday night TV.
In the run-up to the re-birthday on 26th March, websites aplenty did their bit to mark the occasion, most of them involving Top Ten episode lists of some kind.
I figured that, to find my own Top 10, I need to rate the whole lot. 118 episodes creating 96 stories between 2005 and 2014. Rather than setting at all 96 in one big lump, I rated each series seperately, to gradually integrate the lists (combining the s2 list with the s1 list, s3 into that list etc.) to create one glorious whole. Actually, I came up with an RTD-era list, and a Moffat-era list, and then combined those two to create my list. And finally, I just managed to Tweet my Top 10 on the anniversary, at five minutes to midnight.
And now, I’ve finally got round to posting my list on here.

It was important to me that the episodes at the top were the ones that I like, the episodes that I enjoy watching the most. Not necessarily the important ones, the gamechanging ones, the landmark episodes, the iconic episodes…just the ones I like. So there’s going to some surprising omissions. Some unusual inclusions.

And so, with all that in mind, the non-important, unchanging, iconic landmark episode that tops my list is…

THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR.

I was almost embarrassed to place that top, given what I juat said, but it is terrific. The three moments that give you goosebumps and make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Watched it again at the weekend. Brilliant.

So, my full Top 10:

1. The Day of the Doctor
2. The Girl Who Waited
3. Midnight
4. Human Nature/The Family of Blood
5. The Eleventh Hour
6. Mummy on the Orient Express
7. Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead
8. Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways
9. The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang
10. Flatline

Which I think is pretty accurate (for me).

My Top Twenty continues like this:

11. The End of Time
12. Blink
13. The Doctor’s Wife
14. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
15. The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
16. Rose
17. Turn Left
18. Dalek
19. The Unicorn and the Wasp
20. The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End

I know there’s some in there that others wouldn’t agree with, maybe even one or two that might be placed at the other end of the table, but this is my list, so tough.

I’ve put the rest of the 96 stories in this order…

21. The Crimson Horror
22. Partners In Crime
23. School Reunion
24. The Power of Three
25. The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone
26. The Christmas Invasion
27. The Unquiet Dead
28. 42
29. Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords
30. The Runaway Bride
31. The God Complex
32. Vincent and the Doctor
33. The Girl in the Fireplace
34. Army of Ghosts/Doomsday
35. Asylum of the Daleks
36. Cold War
37. The Caretaker
38. Listen
39. Last Christmas
40. Amy’s Choice
41. The Snowmen
42. Dark Water/Death in Heaven
43. Hide
44. The Next Doctor
45. The Time of the Doctor
46. Kill the Moon
47. The Name of the Doctor
48. The Waters of Mars
49. The End of the World
50. The Angels Take Manhattan
51. Voyage of the Fanned
52. Tooth and Claw
53. The Doctor’s Daughter
54. Robot of Sherwood
55. The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon
56. Planet of the Ood
57. A Good Man Goes to War
58. Let’s Kill Hitler
59. Smith and Jones
60. Gridlock
61. The Fires of Pompeii
62. The Lodger
63. Time Heist
64. Into The Dalek
65. A Town Called Mercy
66. Night Terrors
67. The Wedding of River Song
68. Planet of the Dead
69. The Idiot’s Lantern
70. New Earth
71. The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky
72. The Shakespeare Code
73. Boom Town
74. The Lazarus Experiment
75. The Bells of Saint John
76. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
77. Victory of the Daleks
78. Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel
79. Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS
80. The Vampires of Venice
81. A Christmas Carol
82. Fear Her
83. Aliens of London/World War Three
84. Father’s Day
85. In the Forest of the Night
86. Nightmare in Silver
87. The Beast Below
88. The Long Game
89. Love & Monsters
90. Curse of the Black Spot
91. Closing Time
92. The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People
93. The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe
94. The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood
95. Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks
96. The Rings of Akhaten

THE RINGS OF fucking AKHATEN. I cannot stand it. I’ve tried. But it just makes me cringe. So much of it is similar to The Beast Below (which I’ve never been a big fan of, anyway), and the stuff with the spacebike…just, no. And taking the Worst Story crown from Daleks In Manhattan is no mean feat.

Cast your minds back, if you can, to 2006. BBC2 were broadcasting a new science fiction sitcom, with many wondering ‘is this the new Red Dwarf?’

That sitcom was Hyperdrive. And no, it wasn’t the new Red Dwarf. But, despite what many of my friends within Red Dwarf fandom – and indeed, what a fair few people all over the place – thought (and still think), I actually rather enjoyed it.

Under the guise of ‘Captain Helix’ (the name of a fictional character within the Hyperdrive universe), I ran a (somewhat basic, admittedly) fan site devoted to the show named after the sitcom’s setting, the HMS Camden Lock.
Writers Kevin and Andy gave me a lot of support, giving me a couple of exclusives, and gifting me with a signed copy of the series 1 & 2 DVD boxset.

They also pointed me in the direction of means of getting interviews with cast members.

Although I received a phone call from Nick Frost’s agent offering me the chance to have a chat with Nick himself – which, unbelievably, I turned down (!) due to my not having the equipment to record a telephone interview (what the Hell was I thinking that day?), I did manage to secure an email interview with Miranda Hart, who very kindly agreed to answer my twenty or so questions.

The artwork and detailed episode guides I produced for the site are long gone, but here, in it’s entirety, is my EXCLUSIVE interview, from early 2006…

——————–

I understand that before the series was made, a pilot was made with Omid Djallili and Mark Gatiss as Henderson and York. Were you involved in this?Yes, a pilot was made in December 2003 with Mark Gatiss as York and Sanjeev Baskar as the Commander. And I played Teal in that. Steve Evans and Dan Antopolski also did the pilot as Vine and Jeffers.

How did their portayal of the characters differ to Nick’s and Kevin’s? And how did the show – the plot, the characters, the production – differ to what we saw in the final series? Any major changes?Mark and Sanjeev were naturally very different to Nick and Kevin because they are totally different performers and people. But the essence of gun happy York and hapless Henderson was there. It was just a ten minute, non broadcast pilot – more of a taster tape than anything else so at that stage we didn’t see much script or get to know the plots and characters in depth, but the outline of all 5 characters were there. Although Sandstrom didn’t exist at that stage. It was filmed at Ealing Studios and a space ship was built but it was much smaller – less corridors and lower quality MDF.

What attracted you to Hyperdrive in the first place? How did you get involved? It was a run of the mill audition at the BBC for the pilot – I didn’t know much about it before I went to the casting. I am not sure how many people when up for the part at that stage, but I am delighted to say they still wanted me for the series as I just fell in love with the character of Teal.

How would you describe Teal? And do you think you’d get on with her in real life?Teal is a conscientious, slightly prudish, home counties girl. She sticks to the rules and regulations and her efficiency and organisation mean she is seen as the school swot of the team. She is much better at her job than at social interaction – and doesn’t really understand how to flirt or to relax socially.
If I met Teal in real life (bizarre idea!) then I would probably not dislike her, but she wouldn’t be on top of my list to go to the pub with. She wouldn’t be quite as free and silly as I would like a drinking companion to be. She’s a bit too uptight for me.

What are the main differences and similarities between Teal and yourself?We both have a middle class, forces upbringing but Teal continues to enjoy and live by the regimented, emotionally uptight elements of that background, whereas I have shun from that and am much more informal and slobby than Teal.

Do you have a favourite episode? Favourite moment or scene?I am pushed to think of a particular favourite but I did love filming the Queppu banquet for Episode 2 and loved watching York and the leader of Queppu squashing fruit and the commander dancing with the beautiful alien much to Teal’s disgust.

Can you recall any funny moments or stories from when you were recording the show?The whole thing was a total nightmare from beginning to end.

Which actor’s the most fun to work with? Who’s most likely to make you giggle at inappropriate times? And who’s most prone to corpsing?I would say I am probably the worst at corpsing. If at the end of a scene the director didn’t shout cut straight awa,y we would improvise and I would always be the first to laugh. Mr Nick Frost would often make me laugh – just the way he looked at me sometimes when I was trying to flirt with him (as Teal and Henderson I should say!) would set me off.

Are writers Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil on set when you shoot, and are they open to improvisations? Any last minute rewrites?Yes they are on set every day which is great. A real help. They are making minor adjustments right up to the last minute and are very open to suggestions and lines that come out of improvisations and rehearsals. It is a genuine pleasure to work with such generous writers.

Are there any running gags from on-set which you think will still be going strong when you get together for series two?I am sure my kind and loving nicknames Queen Kong and Big Truck will stick – a couple of those got in the show, which really made me laugh.

Hyperdrive‘s been described as ‘the new Red Dwarf‘. How do you stand on that? Are you a fan of Red Dwarf, and what’s your opinion of Science Fiction in general? Any favourites?Oh, I don’t know! I know NOTHING about science fiction. NOTHING! I approached Hyperdrive as a sitcom that happened to be set in space and often have to ask the boys about the sci-fi references. As for Hyperdrive being the new Red Dwarf – I think they are totally different shows and should be viewed as such.

What do you like, comedy wise? Favourite comedians or shows?I am quite an old fashioned traditionalist comedy wise. My favourite comedian is Eric Morecambe and I can watch him over and over again. Peter Cook, Joyce Grenfell and Ronnie Barker also. I like simple, silly, eccentric bold character comedy rather than dark, surreal, edgy or stuff that’s too clever. Although I loved Nighty Night and you can’t get much darker than that. But the characters in that were big and silly and that’s why I could laugh. If its too underplayed and too clever I get confused. I am more of a BBC 1 and 2 watcher than BBC 3 put it like that!

Who/what are your influences?Joyce Grenfell was who I watched when much younger and who introduced me to the concept of being alone on stage doing comedy – I knew that’s what I wanted to do when I watched her. Then of course Victoria Wood and French and Saunders were massive influences. Because they were the women in the comedy lime light when I was in my influential teenage years.

What were your ambitions growing up? And there is there anything you haven’t done, either personally or professionally, that you’d still love to do?I have always wanted to be a comedy actress. That has and still is my dream. There is SO much I would still love to do. I feel like I am just at the beginning of my career really (although its been a ten year struggle to get to the start of it – I am exhausted already). I would like to do more sitcoms – other characters, I would like to make my West End debut in a comedy play, I would like to write my own stuff, I would like to do a film, more radio – SO MUCH! As for personally – the list is even longer. It’s a cliché but swimming with dolphins is on the list, a long with being able to cook, going to see Polar Bears in the wild and winning the Ladies Singles Championship at Wimbledon.

Have you found elements of the show creeping into your day to day life?Categorically not! That would be too weird.

What would you like to see happen in the next series? Any suggestions for storylines?I would like to see Teal happy in a relationship with someone who loves her and gets her. I don’t think it will happen!

What are the best and worst jobs you’ve ever had?Aside from Hyperdrive of course, the best job I have had to date was the 2nd series of Nighty Night; I had a very small part but was in Devon (where it was filmed) for a couple of weeks. It was beautiful weather, amazing location, and I had the most wonderful company in Georgie Glen, Julia Davis, Mark Gatiss and Ruth Jones – we just laughed constantly. The worst job was cleaning student flats when I first left University. One flats sink was blocked and they were doing the washing up in the bath. Oh yes..

How did you get started in this business they call show? Any amusing anecdotes along the way?Loads of anecdotes yes, but they are for showing off at dinner parties only. No, I fear being a luvvie at the best of times so certainly wouldn’t shower you with stories – sorry. As for getting started in the business. It was a question of writing and performing my own character comedy shows (which I still do) and writing embarrassing letters to important people to persuade them to come and see me (which I still do). I do feel exhausted before my career has really begun – it was a long hard battle trying to get a foot in the door for me. No easy breaks. It took 7 years after University to get my first agent for example. But I think dreams are better achieved with a fight – in retrospect of course!

What are you currently working on, and what projects do you have coming up? I am currently writing. I shall be doing a play in the summer, but no other plans as yet.

For our Truly Trivial Trivia Page, can you tell us one thing you’ve never told anyone before? (The weirder the better!)Never told anyone – that’s an ask. Ummm… I dislike Trinny and Susannah. There, I said it. Why can’t we just wear what the **** we like frankly. Oh, and I want to be the British Tennis hope and win Wimbledon.

A long time ago, when I was 16, I won a pair of tickets to see Reeves and Mortimer Live in Sheffield in a competition on local radio. The competition question was based on the preceding interview with Vic Reeves. I listened closely, heard that he was born in Leeds, answered the question correctly, and won the tickets.

Of course, being the Vic and Bob nut that I was (and still am), I recorded this interview, along with some other radio appearances around the same time. I stuck them all on a single cassette, and looked after it carefully.

But tapes are a bit of a dying breed. The cassette player on my stereo wasn’t too bad, but it chewed up a couple of tapes a few years ago, and I haven’t used it since.

Well, now my Dad has allowed us to enter the 21st Century, having acquired a new record player at Christmas which lets us transfer all those old 45s and tapes to MP3 files.

So, I’ve dug out the tape (as well as one used to record an interview on Radio 2 the other week), and put some MP3s over on SoundCloud.

What I find interesting is that in the two 1995 interviews, Vic mentions the fact that they were hoping to release an album of all the songs from The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer. Of course, that never happened, but, my God, what an album that would have been.

And so. Twenty years after I saw Vic and Bob Live at Sheffield City Hall for free (the tickets should, apparently, have cost a wallet emptying £14,50), in December, I’ll be seeing Vic and Bob Live at Sheffield City Hall, for the slightly costlier amount of over £35.

A Blogtor Who report on a Steven Moffat interview about Clara.
I get frustrated at the people who have complained about Clara in s8, but getting a few pre-emptive anti-hater/pro-Clara comments in would appear to be not the done thing, so I’ll put them here on my own webspace where they won’t bother/be seen by anyone.

*ahem*

It was no more the Clara show than any other series has been companion-led. The first ep of s1 was called Rose, for God’s sake.
The Clara of s8 has been brilliant, and has an actual character. In s7, she was a plot device. The show literally was about her.
Modern Who has always been about the companion, neither Moffat *or* RTD have never denied or apologised for that.
I cannot understand the people who have complained this year. One of the strongest Doctor/companion dynamics there’s been.

They’re not even particularly interesting Tweets. I just don’t like getting my wrist slapped when there are thousands of Moffat/Clara haters who’ll be having a go on the site later in the comments…oh, for fuck’s sake.

Since the Doctor Who series 8 finale, Death in Heaven was broadcast on Saturday night, much has been made of injokes, homages, tributes and nods to the past.
One of my favourite sequences was when we visited the (Dead as a Dodo) Chaplet Funeral Home, as poor old Danny Pink awoke in an upgraded body. The sequence of events was pretty similar to the events surrounding The Seventh Doctor’s regeneration into the Eighth…

Death in Heaven:

The TV Movie:

Death in Heaven:

The TV Movie:

Death in Heaven:

The TV Movie:

Death in Heaven:

The TV Movie:

Death in Heaven:

The TV Movie:

Death in Heaven:

The TV Movie:

Death in Heaven:

The TV Movie:

Deliberate or coincidence? My bet’s on the former, and all the better for it.

So, two weeks of Doctor Who to go, and three weeks til the Complete Series boxset is released.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a wishlist of boxset extras. Well, here’s the back of the box, with it’s list of Value Added Material…

…And a recap of what I wanted to see. Let’s see how much I got.

So s8 extras, what do we want?
Right. Trailers. The teaser, the ‘Good Man’ trailer, the series trailer, all the other pre-series stuff, the countdown teasers, the channel ident interruptions and individual episode trailers.

Nope. Doesn’t look like.

Doctor Who Extra (which I think is pretty much a given).

Well, Behind The Scenes. Same thing.

“The Next Doctor” – Peter Capaldi’s casting announcement. I think this is an extra on the solo Deep Breath release, so I would think this would be a definite inclusion.

Not that definite, obviously. Actually, this is a particularly interesting/frustrating omission. It is, indeed, one of three extras on the Deep Breath release. One of the others is the Behind The Scenes/Doctor Who Extra feature. The other feature that doesn’t seem to appear on the s8 set is the Cinematic introduction to the episode from The Paternoster Gang. While the Cinema intros to The Day Of The Doctor were belatedly included as extras on the recent 50th Anniversary Boxset, there’s nowhere else to find the Deep Breath intro but the solo release – which, if you’ve bought the Complete Series 8 Boxset, you’re not really needing.

Stuff from the Cardiff and London premieres, and the rest of the World Tour.

Ah, now, here they seem to have really delivered. I believe Doctor Who: Earth Conquest: The World Tour is a full 45 minute documentary on the Doctor Who team’s global jaunt in August.

Maybe we could see some other promo stuff? Blue Peter or One Show appearances?

Oh well, Maybe that was too much to even think of. But, though unlisted, the set does include the video of Foxes’ cover of Don’t Stop Me Now, as featured in Mummy On The Orient Express.

And Commentaries. Please, God, give us some commentaries.

Yes!

Peter Capaldi would give us great Doctor Who commentaries. We’ve had too few commentaries these last few years, and the Twelfth Doctor has a knowledge and love of the show that will enhance any episode.

I don’t know who’s doing the commentaries (I think there are just the four), but I don’t think it unreasonable to presume that Peter Capaldi will be present on at least one of them.
It can’t be just coincidence, can it, that the number of chat-fests we got on the RTDian boxsets has reduced in number since the Moffat Age began?

So that’s that. The wishlist isn’t particularly fulfilled, but there are additional features that weren’t on my list:

Doctor Who – The Ultimate Time Lord and Doctor Who – The Ultimate Companion – These are 45 minute features introduced by Peter Davison. I’m not sure if these are some BBC America-produced compilation/talking head shows, but they sound like it. A US-hour each, for example, but I don’t recall seeing them on Watch, but the presence of Peter Davison can’t be a bad thing.

Exclusive Q & A with Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman and Steven Moffat.

This, I believe, is the panel from the London Cinema premiere of Deep Breath, on 23rd August, and lasts 30 minutes . If we’re lucky, the otherwise omitted Paternoster Gang introduction may be included here.
Though I doubt it.

Commentaries & Interviews

I’ve already talked about the commentaries, but what of the interviews? It would seem that these are just four 2 minute cast interviews.